How far, indeed, these mighty contrivances of the all-bounteous Creator, for the promotion and developement of industry, outstrip all human imitation, the occurrences of the passing hour furnish the most satisfactory and conclusive evidence.  The vast tide of emigration which is incessantly rolling along the banks of the Mississippi, and of its tributary streams, and the numberless cities, towns, and settlements, that have sprung up as if it were by the agency of magic, in what but a few years back was one boundless and uninterrupted wilderness, speak a language not to be mistaken by the most ignorant or prejudiced.  The western territory, which though a province but of yesterday, soon promises to rival the richest and most powerful members of the American union, affords an instance of rapid colonization, of which, the history of the world cannot produce a parallel, and offers an incontestable proof of the natural superiority which countries, whose rivers run in a northern or southern course, possess over all others.

But this fact is not merely established by the experience of the present day, it is equally authenticated by the testimony of past ages.  What was the reason why Egypt was for so many centuries the seat of affluence and power, but the Nile? that India is still rich and populous, but the Indus and Ganges?  These countries, indeed, are no longer the great and powerful empires they were, although the natural advantages of their situations are still unchanged.  But what mighty ravages will not a blood-thirsty and overwhelming despotism effect?  What health and vigor can belong to that body politic which is forced to inhale the nauseous effluvia of tyranny?  Prosperity is a plant that can only flourish in an atmosphere fauned by the wholesome breath of freedom.  The highest fertility of soil, the greatest benignity of climate, the most commanding superiority of position, will otherwise be unavailing.  Freedom may in the end convert the most barren and inhospitable waste into a paradise; but the inevitable result of tyranny is desolation.

The probable course of this newly discovered river, being thus in every respect so decidedly favourable for the foundation of a rich and powerful community, there can be little doubt that the government of this country will immediately avail itself of the advantages which it presents, and establish a settlement at its mouth.  What a sublime spectacle will it then be for the philosopher to mark the gradual progress of population from the two extremities of this river; to behold the two tides of colonization flowing in opposite directions, and constantly hastening to that junction, of which the combined waters shall overspread the whole of this fifth continent!